Amadeus (1984) - The abduction from the Seraglio (HD)

Amadeus is a 1984 American period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and adapted by Peter Shaffer from his stage play Amadeus. The story is set in Vienna, Austria during the latter half of the 18th century, and is a fictionalized biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The film follows a fictional rivalry between Mozart and Italian composer Antonio Salieri at the court of Emperor Joseph II (Wikipedia) Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384; The abduction from the Seraglio; also known as Il Seraglio) is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner’s Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The plot concerns the attempt of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of Pasha Selim. The work premiered on 16 July 1782 at the Vienna Burgtheater, with the composer conducting. The complexity of Mozart’s work noted by Goethe also plays a role in a well-known tale about the opera which appeared in the early (1798) biography of Mozart by Franz Xaver Niemetschek. In the version of the anecdote printed in Bartlett’s Book of Anecdotes, a reference work, the story is told like this: The Emperor Joseph II commissioned the creation of The Abduction from the Seraglio, but when he heard it, he complained to Mozart, “That is too fine for my ears – there are too many notes.“ Mozart replied, “There are just as many notes as there should be“ (Wikipedia)